Lady Macbeth
by Shortstakk7932
Summary: AU...Elle has killed again. Why? And what will the consequences be? Currently a T-rated one shot, but can become a multi-chapter if the people want it, and possibility of a higher rating later if needs be.
1. Chapter 1

**This little story came to me rather suddenly. What led me to it is a long story; Jenny Crum is privy to a fair amount of it. I'm sure similar stories have been done, and if mine seems a little too much like someone else's then I apologize, there was no infringement intended. For right now, this is a one shot, but if ya'll want more, review or hit me up on FB and let me know. **

"**Out, damned spot! out, I say!" (William Shakespeare, Macbeth)**

"**Macbeth: How does your patient, doctor?**

**Doctor: Not so sick, my lord, as she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from rest.**

**Macbeth: Cure her of that! Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain, and with some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon her heart.**

**Doctor: Therein the patient must minister to himself." (William Shakespeare, Macbeth)**

She scrubbed her hands vigorously under the steaming hot water; it was burning so badly she should have been screaming in agony. But even with the soap, the blood wouldn't come out of her hands; in her mind she could still see them covered in his blood. To the outside world there wasn't a drop left on them. They were spotless. The only thing red about her hands now would be the fact that she had scrubbed them almost to the point of being raw.

That man had seemed so nice four days ago when they met in the coffee shop. He had a dazzling smile; he was tall, dark hair, shining eyes. He was gorgeous. Physically he was as close to what she had been looking for in a man, he should have been damned near perfect. He had been short a couple of dollars of being able to buy some coffees for him and his work friends, so she had offered to buy it for him. She was running late herself and hadn't wanted to get held up much longer. That was before he turned around and she saw him for the first time. After that, she would have quit her job to be able to stand there and look at him all day.

At first she thought he would be offended by a woman offering to buy his drink for him, but he was actually grateful. He told her that it was his first week on the job, and he was apparently going through the company hazing. He asked for her number so he could take her to the movies or to dinner sometime as a 'Thank You'.

After her time in the BAU she should have known better than to do something like that; but her time spent as Garcia's friend had lulled her into wanting to give people a chance to be better. She gave the man the number to her cell with a wink.

That had led her to where she was. They had gone out to a movie, some chick flick. She didn't even really care for them usually, but for a date night, it seemed appropriate. He had initially wanted to pick her up at her apartment, but she had a strict rule about not allowing strangers to know where she lived. It would be several dates before she ever let him near her apartment. She told him they could meet at the theater. It was a well-lit public place and there were enough people there that she felt safe with her decision. After the film he had walked her back to her car, leaning into the window talking to her as she fastened her seatbelt and cranked the car. He had asked about a second date. She told him she was unsure of when her schedule would allow for that; she honestly travelled a lot for her job. He seemed bummed out about that, but he said that he understood.

Once home, she made her way into her apartment, shutting and locking the door. Before she could get as far as her sofa in the living room, the door flew open, being kicked almost off its hinges. She had no time to turn around to see who the culprit was; he grabbed her from behind, wrapping one arm around her neck and one arm snaked around her waist, poking her with a knife in her left side.

"All I wanted was a second date!" the man yelled into her ear.

Now she knew who it was. _"Awesome taste in men I've got. Perhaps, if I make it out of this I can see if there is an opening at the local convent."_

"I told you….."

"Shut up! I heard what you said! Now, you're going to listen to me!"

He shoved her to the floor. As soon as she hit the floor she began to scramble away from him, turning around to sit on her butt, to get her bearings. She knew there was no way to get to her room and the safe where she kept one of her guns hidden. She thought about the kitchen, but he was equal distance from it and already upright. She had little other choice than to try to engage him physically.

They got into a physical altercation. She had to try to get that knife away from him if for no other reason than to merely disarm him.

After rolling around on the floor, he had her pinned down on her back; he was holding both of her hands above her head in one of his large hands, his grip bordering on excessive. With his free hand he had hidden the knife where she couldn't see it and began pulling her clothes off of her, ripping her blouse, sending buttons flying everywhere. With that done he brought the knife back into view cutting her slacks away from her body.

That was really all she remembered until she pushed him off of her, looking down on herself, blood all over the front of whatever was left of her clothes. She slid out from under his body; half walking, half crawling, stumbling her way down the hall to the bathroom, she began trying to wash the blood from her hands.

If she could just get it off of her hands, she could worry about the rest later.

The steam from the water began to fog up the bathroom mirror. The longer it took to wash the blood off she began to really panic.

"_He couldn't really be dead, could he?" _

She didn't hear a sound coming from the other room, so she set the soap aside and left the water running as she went to go check in the living room. Peeking around the corner she saw one of his legs showing from behind where his body was on the floor behind the sofa. She came farther into the room and could see blood pooling under the body.

With that she ran back into the bathroom and began to scrub harder with more soap. Once she finally broke skin with the force of the scrubbing she cried out with the agony that she felt as the soap burned. That was the only thing that stopped her scrubbing. She wrapped a hand towel around her hand to keep it from bleeding. She couldn't stand to see any more blood tonight. With her wrapped hand she wiped the mirror and looked at her reflection; she didn't look like herself anymore. She looked less like herself now more than when she left the BAU.

Fearing going back out into the living room with a dead man and a pool of blood, Elle slid down the wall to sit on the bathroom floor, she was dazed. She had done it again; only this time, she was very much acting in self-defense. But that didn't stop the thoughts and images that flooded her mind.

Would she ever be able to get rid of them?

**"Like A Stone" (Audioslave)**

**On a cob web afternoon,  
In a room full of emptiness  
By a freeway I confess  
I was lost in the pages of a book full of death;  
Reading how we'll die alone.  
And if we're good we'll lay to rest,  
Anywhere we want to go.**

**In your house I long to be;  
Room by room patiently,  
I'll wait for you there like a stone.  
I'll wait for you there alone.**

**And on my deathbed I will pray to the gods and the angels,  
Like a pagan to anyone who will take me to heaven;  
To a place I recall, I was there so long ago.  
The sky was bruised, the wine was bled, and there you led me on.**

**In your house I long to be;  
Room by room, patiently,  
I'll wait for you there like a stone.  
I'll wait for you there alone, alone.  
And on I read until the day was gone;  
And I sat in regret of all the things I've done;  
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged.  
In dreams until my death I will wander on.**

**In your house I long to be;  
Room by room, patiently,  
I'll wait for you there like a stone.  
I'll wait for you there alone, alone.**

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**Post AN: So there goes a nearly 1,500 word tantrum. Lemme know if ya'll want more or not. Peace out.**


	2. Lady Macbeth Chapter 2

**Chapter 2-Getting on With It **

There was no telling how long Elle had been sitting in the same spot; her knees had been pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs….she had fallen asleep sitting in the floor of her own bathroom, her head resting on top of her knees. As she came awake, she realized she had to stretch; the feeling in her legs was questionable at best. Once she had stretched out a bit she decided to try to stand up. That was an undertaking; the rush of feelings returning to her legs and feet making her wobbly at best.

Unwrapping the towel from around her damaged hand, Elle noticed that the bleeding had stopped; she tossed the towel down to the side of the bathtub. Elle decided she couldn't live in her bathroom alone so she forced herself out into the living room where the very dead attacker from last night was still in the floor, a puddle of blood congealed around him.

She made her decision quickly. She ran to her room yanking a couple of suitcases out of her closet. She began cramming as many articles of clothing in them as she possibly could; she grabbed her toothbrush and other toiletries stuffing them into the suitcases as well. There were scant few personal items that she took with her. There was an old photo of her with some of her friends when she worked at the BAU. She missed those times, before everything had gone sideways for her.

She locked her suitcases and took them through the apartment, setting them down by the door; next, she walked back down the hall way, going back into her bedroom, changing her clothes. She chose a khaki pair of linen pants and a silky sleeveless top in a beautiful shade of pale blue. After lying the clothes out on her bed, she jumped into the shower, washing her hair, scrubbing her face a bit….once that was over she blow dried her hair and brushed her teeth with a spare tooth brush and remnants of the toothpaste that she was going to toss. Going back into the bedroom she rubbed some of her favorite lotion into her skin and pulled her clothes on carefully.

She slid her sensible sandals on, something that went tastefully with the outfit she had chosen. Before leaving her bedroom for the final time, she rummaged through the top drawer of her chest-of-drawers and got out her passport and her social security card, insurance card, etc.; she had no plans on coming back here…..at least no time soon. On her way back up the hall to the living room and foyer, she stopped by the thermostat to turn the air conditioning up to keep it nice and cold in the apartment; that would slow down further decomposition of the body, and keep the smell down for a little while.

With all of her items of identification and a couple of extra credit cards in her hands she walked out to the foyer of the apartment and got them all placed in the proper nooks in her pocket book. She had to make sure that nothing seemed out of place about her appearance. She called for a cab and then, while she waited she called her boss; the story that she gave him was that there was a family emergency. Her grandmother was ailing and she would need a rather long period of time off to be with her. Of course she made it sound good; a few well place sniffles, a little sob story about the old lady's health scares with cancer…..she hated to use that as the excuse, but she needed him to buy her story.

It worked. Her boss, ever sympathetic to a crying female, granted her a leave of absence, telling her to call if there was anything he could do for her.

'_Simple idiot,'_ she thought to herself as she grabbed her suitcases and made her way out of her apartment and down to the front of the building to continue waiting for the taxi.

She was unsure of where she would go. She didn't want to leave the country just yet. She would save that as a last resort if it came to that. But she knew she had to get out of the state.

Maine. She had never really been there, unless it was for a case. And it had lovely scenery; never mind the fact of how close it was to the US/Canada border just on the off chance she had to make a quick escape for some unforeseen reason.

As the taxi pulled up, Elle pulled herself together and smiled politely to the chubby, middle aged driver as he helped her load her luggage into the trunk.

"So, where do I need to take you young lady?"

"I'm going to the airport."

"Vacation? I'm sorry, it's none of my business actually."

"No, you're alright. Yes, vacation. I've got some friends in Maine that I am going to visit. I thought I better do it before it gets any closer to winter."

"Very well. I hope you have a safe trip and that you get to take in the scenery there. I have a cousin that lives out that way; it's some lovely country. You should like it well enough."

"Thank you very much; you're so kind to say so."

Once at the airport, Elle made a cash purchase for a one way ticket to Maine, again smiling as politely as possible at the airline employee behind the counter. So far everything had been going smoothly.

Elle couldn't help but wonder though, how long her luck might hold out.

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**Post AN: Compared to some of the other work I'm known for, that was a short chapter. But I just wanted to get something out there to let everybody know that I had not abandoned this story; just had it on the back burner for a second or two. Hope that ya'll liked this update, and hopefully there will be more to come soon.**


	3. Lady Macbeth Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Elle had settled in nicely once she arrived in Maine. She found herself in West Bath, it was a relatively small town when compared with some place like Quantico or DC; it only had about 1,800 or 1,900 people in it. But yet it was just large enough…..it was hard to explain. There was a small little downtown section that had a few 'mom and pop' stores; there were about three antique stores alone, one book store that dealt mainly in used books for sell or trade, there was a small coffee shop…it was nothing fancy, but it was a cute place, and considering how chilly Maine could get starting in the fall, it was a great place to go and just…be. They had three small store front restaurants that all carried the same sorts of food more or less. There was one theater, it had four screens though, that was something; a couple of gas stations and maybe three churches, and a court house with the addition of a small jail pretty much rounded out the town itself.

Elle had been able to rent a small little 'saltbox' style house; it was two bedrooms, one bathroom, the living room and kitchen had been remodeled into a great room combination to keep it opened up and allow light and air to circulate around a little better. It wasn't a large place at all, but it was big enough for her purposes and it came fully furnished; like the town itself, nothing fancy, but it was cute, and it looked as though her landlords did their best to keep it clean and in proper working order. That was all she cared about. And the view from the living room was incredible. The river, that river was something else to see as the sun came up.

So far, Elle hadn't really done too much, considering the fact she had been in town nearly five months. It was the start of fall when she first came; now it was well into winter. She had gone one town over…into Woolwich….to go grocery shopping. That's how small the town of West Bath was, no grocery store. But considering how beautiful the scenery was, this drive was no chore; and besides, it was only a 15 minute drive from point A to point B. She had gone to the coffee shop in town a couple of times; hit the little knick knack shop…that was about it. She had just spent the time enjoying the peace and quiet, watching the sun rise and set around her, reading, cooking a little more than she usually did. She was really beginning to like it there. That's what made it so sad that she was going to have to leave.

She knew little or nothing about the fact that the cops had found the body in her apartment. And, if she had to be quite honest she could care less. She had far more…..recent issues….that needed dealing with. She would definitely have to be gone before the spring thaw. Her landlords were the ones responsible for the upkeep of the lawn around this darling little house. She didn't want to be there to see the looks on their faces when they were rooting around in the flower beds out back and found Todd; that would definitely be next to impossible to explain.

Todd was a good looking guy she had met when she had gone into Woolwich to one of the local clubs around there; it was really more of a bar with a small dance floor. He was tall, about 6'3, with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes that had a mischievous glint in them, and a smile that made your panties drop. She had begun seeing him; they had dated for a few weeks. And then it all went wrong somewhere.

He punched her in the face one night during an argument. He apologized, begged forgiveness, the usual. She let him slide that one time; she had been pushing his buttons that night. She had provoked him; she was woman enough to admit as much. He had a 'get out of jail free card' for that one instance. But when he not only beat her but proceeded to hold her down and rape her a few weeks after that, he became a marked man.

The next night she was preparing some dinner for the two of them. When she was getting his bowl of soup ready as a starter, she made sure to add a dash or two (maybe five) of Warfarin into it…mixing it up well. Since she had 'Fiestaware' dishes she made sure to put his soup in a blue bowl, blue was his favorite color after all. She placed her 100% safe soup in the red bowl so as not to get the two confused. Then she finished off the steaks that she had made; she had marinated them in some steak sauce in the refrigerator over-night….adding a little extra warfarin to his, placing them in separate baggies, labeling each…one read 'Hot Toddy's' and then there was one labeled just for her. She had even gone so far as to use his favorite steak sauce for his and one of her choice for her own. Homemade salad dressing for the salads with a sprinkle of shredded cheese on each one….and a cherry on top for good ol' Todd; by the time she was through with him, he'd be the world's biggest sack of rat poison that anyone had ever heard of. But she was a thorough woman, she believed in getting the job done. Perhaps the Warfarin in the steak sauce was a little bit much though. Nope, just enough.

It hadn't taken long for it to start taking effect, which she was pleased about. She even made clean up easy on herself. It was the middle of November when this happened. She had simply suggested that they go sit outside around the fire pit in the yard and roast marshmallows. Todd had thought this was a great idea, just doing a little something cutesy with his girlfriend; after being such an ass to her, she had cooked such a damned fine dinner. The least he could do was indulge her in this slight request.

It was as they sat around the fire pit, telling stories about crazy stuff they got into as kids that Todd began to feel absolutely horrible. He began to cough violently. Looking up at Elle he began to ask for help, but seeing the smirk on her face accompanied by the wicked gleam in her eye, poor Todd knew he'd be getting no sympathy from her.

"What have you done, you bitch!"

"I've taken pity on you, you sorry bastard. I've killed you rather quickly. It could have been slow and painful, just like last night."

"You whore!"

"You know, I've killed two men before, but this was the first time I spent much time thinking about _how_ to do it. I bought the rat poison a few weeks ago, been having a slight rodent problem. I thought things had calmed down with that, gotten back to normal, you know. But the damned rats just keep coming back for more. I rather enjoyed making dinner for you. It was relaxing actually."

He started to cough up blood and gasp for breath as he crawled on his stomach towards her.

"Was that another apology? I couldn't tell with all that noise you're making. Stop it, you're pathetic."

As he became weaker, Elle stepped closer to him and grabbed him under his arms pulling him towards the spot she had picked out. While he was still alive and breathing, though just barely, she rolled his dying body into the hole she had dug. The excuse she had given was that she wanted to dig up some dead bushes that had been there; she even got permission from her landlords. The way she tossed him into the hole he wound up on his back.

"That's right Todd, I want you to watch me bury you. Just like I watched you beat me and rape me last night. I want you to feel one fourth of what I felt when you did that. Maybe in your next lifetime you'll learn to be a little nicer to women." She began shoveling dirt on top of him, making sure to get some in his face, causing him to suck some of it down into his throat as he gasped for breath, causing him to cough that much harder. When she was done filling the hole back in she tapped it on top with the back of the shovel for good measure to make sure she had smoothed it out well enough. Next she went to the barn and got this little utility cart that was on the property and drove it over to the spot. There was a rather large stone on the back of the cart that she had procured. She had said that she was going to set it out around the fire pit somewhere to use for additional seating. The landlords seemed fine with that. She had been such a good tenant; they had never had trouble with her. She used a 2x4 wedged under part of the stone that she used to help get it out of the cart. It landed in the yard with a soft thud. She wasn't worried about the fact it didn't land square onto the spot. She would just have her landlord, Ben, and one of his friends help her move it tomorrow. She already had a story made up to cover for the situation. Todd had started helping her with her little project, but that night, after dinner he got a call that he needed to go out of town on business. Luckily for her she had managed to nick his wallet before she buried him. She could use his credit cards to purchase plane tickets to some city of her choosing. Since he never kept very many of his things over here, it wouldn't be hard getting rid of them.

Her story would buy her just enough time to plan where to go next. She had at least a week to really think about it. She would hate leaving Maine. Ben and his wife, Grace had been wonderful landlords as far as these things go. They were slightly older, in their sixties, and were wonderful people really. But the time had come to move on. She had always wanted to go to San Francisco….ever since she had heard that song when she was a kid, it had always made her want to go there.

Elle picked up her coffee mug from the railing of her little deck as she watched her clothes with traces of Todd's blood on them burn to ashes in the fire pit, along with the receipt for the cash purchase of rat poison, before turning to go back into the house and bed down for the night.

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**(Scott McKenzie, 'San Francisco)**

**If you're going to San Francisco  
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair  
If you're going to San Francisco  
You're gonna meet some gentle people there**

**For those who come to San Francisco  
Summertime will be a love-in there  
In the streets of San Francisco  
Gentle people with flowers in their hair**

**All across the nation such a strange vibration  
People in motion  
There's a whole generation with a new explanation  
People in motion people in motion**

**For those who come to San Francisco  
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair  
If you come to San Francisco  
Summertime will be a love-in there  
If you come to San Francisco  
Summertime will be a love-in there**

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**Post AN: So that is chapter 3. Thanks to everyone that have enjoyed this story so far. It started as a temper tantrum of mine over some idiot ex that I have managed to rack up. It was really only supposed to be a one shot but several of you talked me into expanding it a bit. Hopefully sooner or later we will see if the team ties into this and what sort of investigation will be done, although I must confess, the technical details of the business end of things have never been my strong suit….at least not when trying to create an investigation scene. But hopefully the other areas that I have tried to be as accurate as possible has made up for it. **


	4. Lady Macbeth Chapter 4

**Lady Macbeth Chapter 4**

San Francisco has been awesome. Where the winter in Maine was so cold, the weather was milder here. The sun always shone; back in Maine, as beautiful as the country side was, Elle felt like she was living in the movie 'Dolores Claiborne'….during the winter, everything was grey, overcast, and cold. In San Francisco, the weather itself was a little bit warmer; but more to the point, it was sunny and less depressing.

Elle had chosen an apartment this time. It was a great industrial loft in an old warehouse conversion. It was freaking awesome; it had a great view of the bay. It was on the top floor of a five story building, with the freight elevator that was across the hall from her door.

The neighborhood was pretty nice as well. It wasn't as New York or even Los Angeles perhaps; but it did have a few nice shops and boutiques. The restaurants were to die for. And there was a really great little club just up the road; so, yeah, San Francisco had its own little flair.

Elle hadn't paid much attention to the news lately. She didn't want to get too wrapped up in trying to find out if the authorities were on the look-out for her yet. She felt like, thus far, she had been able to stay a step ahead of them, and that was good enough for her. If she started obsessing over the news and whether or not the authorities were tracking her, she might panic and start making mistakes. No, this way she could keep her head about her and plan out her activities accordingly.

She had been here nearly three months and gotten a job at a consulting firm; it wasn't the bureau, but it was still in a form of law enforcement; but more geared toward the private sector. The pay was better than the bureau that was for sure.

Tonight she was going to meet some friends at one of the local restaurants; it was a girl's night out. They were going for, (what else do you eat in San Francisco?) seafood. She was buzzing around her loft trying to figure out what she might wear tonight. She was mainly an east-coast girl. Her wardrobe usually reflected that. But this was the west, and there was an entirely different sort of dress code.

As she made her way around her place, she heard a muffled noise. She turned to see that a note had been pushed under the door.

All the note had on it was:

_ Foundry Square IV, 500 Howard Street, Suite 1066. 3 PM._

'_What now?'_ was all that Elle could think to herself; it was now 2 PM. She had an hour to get dressed and get to wherever this was. She wasted no time jumping in the shower, blow drying her hair before pulling it back, then sliding on some jeans and a turtle neck blouse. In just under 30 minutes she had gotten cleaned up and called a cab and was on her way.

Once at the address, she asked for instructions on how to get to suite 1066 and made her way up there. Upon arriving to suite 1066, she realized that it looked much like a very upscale apartment; high end finishes, the furnishings were very European….and yet it didn't look over done. Here and there were touches of the Middle and Far East. She suspected a world traveler because these pieces looked original, not some cheap knock-offs that someone would keep out to look important.

"I see you are trying to profile me even now." Elle was spooked by a feminine voice that came to her suddenly from nowhere. Turning to her left she saw a petite woman standing near the large double doors that led out onto the terrace. "And that's so silly because you and I both know that you're not a profiler anymore. Are ya, Elle?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Not only do I know your name, but I know about the body you buried in Maine….and that little oopsy back in your apartment in Quantico. That was rather messy. Although you'd learned your lesson by the time you planted that guy in Maine. You know, they found his body a month later right? Seems that when he didn't show up to his parent's house for some sort of family gathering, they got worried. It took them some time to figure it out…but after questioning some of his friends from work, they found out he was going to meet some woman. They got the address off of cell phone records. Texting that information was quite sloppy."

"_How_ do you know these things?"

"Darlin' I have eyes and ears everywhere in this city. And as you can tell, we are situated near the transit center. There is someone on my payroll that works there and sees all the interesting new people that come through."

"So why was I of particular interest?"

"He could tell by your style of dress that you weren't from around here. He snapped your picture and sent it to another employee of mine and they ran a facial recognition on it and *POOF*, there you were. After they let me know who you were, I did a little digging. I found you in that apartment in Quantico and then you vanished. But it was easy enough to pick up the trail in Maine. It wasn't too far of a stretch to assume that was you. It was a different M.O. but it was you….it had all the cold calculation that was involved with shooting and killing that serial rapist that drove you to leave the bureau. That case in Maine fairly well _reeked _of you."

"Why am I here?"

"Because, even though you're still sloppy, I see a certain….effort. I need your help."

"Oh really? Doing what exactly?"

The woman walked over to a desk, grabbed a file, and tossed it onto a table near Elle, 'Kill him."

Elle picked up the file and flipped through it, seeing a man with salt and pepper hair who looked rather distinguished actually.

"What did he do?"

"Recently?"

Elle arched an eyebrow at her.

"He runs one of the largest crime syndicates in the city. What hasn't he done? The trick is, he never gets caught. The reason I want him dead though is that he murdered my mother."

"How can you be so sure? You said he never gets caught, so that leads me to believe that he never leaves any evidence behind."

"I watched him do it. I was five. He came over to have dinner with momma. I was watching from the stairs. They started arguing. I'm not sure what about, they were using hushed tones, but I could tell. The next thing I knew he wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed until she was dead. He let her body drop to the floor. Then he sat down and finished his meal. When he was done, he wiped his hand on a napkin, wiping his mouth before putting it down. I had come farther into the room to see what would happen. As he left the apartment, he walked right past me, ruffling my hair telling me how much I looked like his mother. With that he was gone."

"He's your father?"

"Yes. And he's outlived his usefulness to me. It's time for him to go."

"What if I don't take you up on your offer?"

"You would do well to take the offer."

"But if I don't?"

"Well, one of my nosey neighbors has been taking pictures of this meeting, has both of us in the same room together. I can hire someone else to do the job, using your particular flare. When the authorities come looking for you, and they will come looking for you….they will be lead to the murder of my father. When the pictures are leaked to them, and I am found….the story that I am sticking to is that you are related to someone that daddy dearest screwed over or had killed, and for all I know you were stalking me to try to get close to him."

"You really think that would stick?"

"You have no idea how persuasive I can be. I've spent years rising in the organized crime community, taking lessons from my father. You keep your mouth shut; you keep your enemies close and your friends closer. They will turn on you faster than anyone else. I own two judges, seven lawyers, and a former governor. I will get away with this with or without you. Besides, I heard your rent is due."

Next thing Elle knew a small manila envelope was tossed onto the table. She didn't touch it, but looked at it oddly.

"There's $100,000 in there. That's just the beginning. I wanted you to know that I was serious. If you were to do this for me, I can give you enough to leave the country on and set up an entire new life somewhere else….not just pay cash for a house somewhere in the French country side….but a new identity. That money should be enough for you to think about it for a few days. Come back here when you've made your decision. Now if you don't mind, I have other appointments."

Elle could only shake her head as she watched the woman walk into an office and shut the door. Once the door was firmly shut, Elle made her way out of the building to go home; she would be calling one of her friends from work to let her know that she wouldn't be able to make it out with them this time. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she wasn't sure she would be able to be good company tonight.

First thing's first; she had to find out what authorities had found out about those two murders….so far.

**Post AN: OK, that chapter wasn't much as far as action goes; but I think it at least set the tone for her time in San Francisco. To be quite honest, I am losing steam on this story I think. But I wanted to get this chapter in and at least give myself some time to come back with something better. Like I said in my update for 'Premonitions'…I just haven't really felt like usual self lately. I dunno, but I hope I get over this hump eventually….Hope ya'll hang on with me. :D**


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